Why Is Our Nation Suffering?

2 Chronicles 7:14 “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

Ultimately, political leaders and secular authorities are not responsible for the rise or fall of their nation. Our presidents and representatives don’t have the kind of power it takes to ruin and restore our country. That kind of responsibility rests squarely on the shoulders of God’s people! God declared that all it would take to heal a nation is for His people to truly seek Him and turn from their wicked ways!

Is our nation being healed? Can we see the restoration of American morality and culture? If we are still in a downward spiral, doesn’t that indicate that the American church needs to do something different? If this nation rises and falls because of the spiritual health of the American believer - isn’t it about time we pay attention to what God told us to do?

If we want this nation to be healed, the first thing we’re told to do is humble ourselves. We need to come to the realization that our ways haven’t worked! Church-growth programs, seeker sensitive churches, secular lifestyles, and wishy-washy faith is not going to save this nation. Church invites aren’t going to cut it! If we want a real revival, we have to understand that our own ways of running the church, of running our families, and of running our lives haven’t worked! Are you willing to admit this?

Once we humble ourselves, the next step is to seek His face. We simply don’t do this anymore! Do you want proof? How many believers do you think spend time every day in prayer? How many believers do you think read their bible daily - let alone “study to show themselves approved”? Yet, this is the only answer for our country! Why are we so quick to blame President Obama and our congress for the state of our nation, and yet so slow to do the one thing that brings healing?

If I were you, I wouldn’t let anything stop me from seeking God! I would make it my first priority in my life! And then, whenever someone starts to complain about the way this country is heading, I would ask them if they’ve humbled themselves and are seeking God. After all, this is the only answer!

Finally (you knew this was coming!), we have to turn from our wicked ways! This is why we need to humble ourselves. If we stay in our pride, we’d be quick to say, “I’m a Christian! I don’t have any wicked ways!” But this is God speaking to His people! We need to turn from our wickedness, Christians! It’s time to clean house in our own lives, in our families, and in our churches.

It’s the wickedness of God’s people that’s hurting this nation! And it’s only the repentance of God’s people that will heal it!
We need to learn what wickedness is!

In Numbers 16:25-26, Dathan and Abiram were called wicked for conspiring against the men that God put in authority. It is wicked to rebel against the authority that God delegated to certain men. I go a little more in depth on that here.

Psalm 37:21 says that the wicked man borrows and doesn’t pay back. Did you know that it is wicked to owe money to someone and then go spend it on something else?

Psalm 52:7 says that it is wickedness to trust in your money. Whether you have a little or a lot, we are required to look to God, not our possessions, for life!

Proverbs 6:12-14 speaks of a wicked man that “sows discord among brothers.” Gossip - even when it’s true - is wickedness! Love will cover a multitude of sins!

Jesus said in Matthew 16:4 that it is a wicked thing to look for signs instead of simply believing what God has already said!

According to Matthew 18:32-33, it is wicked to harbor unforgiveness toward anyone. Jesus forgave us of more than we will ever realize! We are required to sincerely forgive our brothers and sisters!

When we do these things - humble ourselves, seek God’s face, and turn from the wickedness we’ve been doing - God’s promise is forgiveness and healing for this nation. Do you realize that millions of people in this country are counting on us to get it right?

Winning Souls?

I think there are more man-made doctrines in the church than we realize. These are teachings that we’ve learned for years that have no basis in the Bible. They’ve just been emotionally exciting messages, but that’s all. Teachings like “Jesus went to hell to fight the devil and take his keys from him” or “Timothy and Titus were pastors” - things you can’t find in the Bible, but we’ve preached them because we can relate to them emotionally.


One of these man-made subjects is the teaching that we need to “go win souls.” It sounds good, the motivation behind it (reaching the lost for Jesus) is good, it’s led to some good results - but I think it’s also done a lot of harm.


First of all, remember what your soul is! If you haven’t read it yet - read my last post. Jesus doesn’t save your soul! Your soul isn’t born again, your spirit is! You are responsible for saving your soul through God’s Word! Remember James 1:21, “Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.” It is your habit of reading God’s Word daily that will save your soul!


So where did the concept of “winning souls” come from? One verse - Proverbs 11:30: “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, And he who wins souls is wise.” Notice the context, this isn’t talking about witnessing - it’s about doing what’s right! The Hebrew word for soul that is used here is “nephesh.” It simply means a natural type of life. It is often translated life or breath. Every living breathing animal has nephesh...it is simply the natural kind of life. Literally, it is the seat of the emotions, the place for thinking, and the activity of the will.


Keeping the phrase “wins souls” in context with “the fruit of the righteous” - we can see that it’s really talking about winning your soul! It’s moving past your natural life and normal way of thinking into the righteous way way of doing things! Do you see how this verse lines up with James 1:21?


Now, I know it sounds like I’m being overly technical and splitting hairs. But I believe that focusing on “winning souls” has been detrimental to the church! We’ve put the entire focus of the church on winning people to Jesus - but we’ve forgotten what should come next!


Jesus never called His church to win souls! Matthew 28:19-20 records the mission that Jesus gave to the church: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Do you see “winning souls” in that passage? Do you even see “witnessing” or “salvation messages” in that passage? What do you see there? Making disciples!


Don’t get me wrong, the salvation of a sinner is huge! It’s like the birth of a child...it’s necessary for life! But you don’t give birth to a baby and then say, “Congratulations kid, see you in a week!” Your goal isn’t the birth, it’s the life! You want that child to grow up, mature, make the right choices and ultimately produce and raise kids on their own! It’s the same with being born again.


We’ve missed it when we go out and lead a person to Jesus, and then leave them on their own. Our job - the commission given to us by Jesus Himself - is to disciple them. How do we do that? By “teaching them all things that I have commanded you.”


The believer’s calling is to take people from being a sinner, leading them into the new birth, and then taking them under his or her wing and discipling them. You do realize, after all, that once you lead someone to Jesus, you’re responsible to help them grow? The new birth is only the beginning of what you should be taking them through - with the ultimate goal of producing a mature believer that can repeat the process with another person!


I’m a product of this. My pastor wasn’t content that I was saved - he wanted me to mature in the faith. He took me under his wing and taught me how to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. As I grew, he taught me how to do the work of ministry. And now I’m teaching other people the things he taught me!


I believe that every believer, every follower of Jesus should be becoming a disciple! They should be learning His way of doing things. They should be learning to discipline themselves to do what’s right. They should be submitted to ministers who are growing themselves. And every believer should be discipling someone else! We have too many babies in the church that aren’t growing up! It’s time for someone to come along side of them and raise them up!

The Whole You

1 Thessalonians 5:23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ

There's more to you than meets the eye! You were made in the very image of God! Just like God is three in one (Father, Son, Holy Spirit), you are also made up of three parts. Your spirit, your soul and your body.

Your spirit is the real you. Instead of saying that you have a spirit, it would be better to say you are a spirit. When 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” - it is referring to the spirit of a believer. You see, when you were born again, your spirit was re-created. Your old, dead, sinful spirit is gone – now you have been remade!

You serve God with your spirit – Romans 1:9 “For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son.” Your spirit is your connection to everything in the spiritual world. This is the part of us that connects with God in worship. John 4:24 says, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” In fact, everything in the kingdom of God – everything in our new life – must me done from the spirit.

Your body is the most obvious part of you. It is the place that your spirit lives. Although your body is part of you, it isn't the real you. The best way to say this is, you are a spirit and you live in a body. When you gave your life to Jesus, your body remained the same. Except for supernatural incidents of God's power, your body is subject to the laws of nature. One day, God will recreate your body in the same way He recreated your spirit. 1 Corinthians 15:35-45 states that this will take place at the rapture.

You use your body to connect to the physical world. You see, you feel, you taste, you hear and you touch with your body. You use your body for transportation in this world and manipulation of things in this world. When your body is governed by your new spirit, good things happen! But problems come when the third part of you takes control.

The third part of you is your soul. You are a spirit, you live in a body, and you have a soul. Your soul is made up of your reasoning, your emotions, and your desires. Any time you think something through, your using your soul. Any time you feel sad, mad or glad – that is the emotional part of your soul. When you see something you really want, or when you're facing something you really don't want to do – that's your soul too.

Before you were a believer, your soul was in charge. You were governed by you limited thinking, you were paralyzed or energized by your emotions, and you did whatever you wanted to do. Now you have a brand new spirit that wants to obey God's word. The problem is, your soul is still the same! You see, God recreated your spirit when you got saved, He's going to recreate your body at the rapture, but He's given you the responsibility of renewing your mind!

Often, when we talk about salvation, we use the wrong terms. We speak about Jesus “saving our souls.” The reality is, He saved our spirit when we got saved – but our soul was still as degenerate as ever! The salvation of our souls is a process! James 1:21 says, “Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.” The only thing that is going to save your soul is a constant, steady diet of God's Word!

As long as your soul (your mind) is unsaved, it is God's enemy! Romans 8:7 says, “Because the carnal (degenerate, unsaved, un-renewed) mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.” So how do we get our soul to do what's right? It has to be renewed by God's Word!

Romans 12:2 says, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

As we continue to take in God's Word, our soul is renewed. You start to notice that it's easier to obey God. That's because, as your soul is recreated by God's Word, it begins to line up with your spirit.

Your new spirit always wants to obey God. In Matthew 26:41 Jesus said, “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Your flesh will obey whatever is stronger, either your spirit or your soul.

So let your Spirit man be stronger than your soul! Don't let your emotions control you any more – instead learn how to be controlled by God's Word and God's Spirit. Don't let the natural things that you desire drive you, instead learn how to desire what you read in the Bible. Don't let you reasoning and your intellect to talk you out of obeying God.

Let God's Word have the final say in your spirit, your soul and your body!

Slackers Don't Get This

Proverbs 25:19 Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a bad tooth and a foot out of joint.

Do you remember when you had loose baby teeth? You would go to take a bite out of something at dinner time, and it would just give way! Or how about this, have you ever sat on your leg until it went to sleep and didn't know it? You would get up and take a step, only to have your leg buckle under you! That feeling – knowing that something should work and it fails you – is the kind of feeling that comes from depending on an unfaithful person.

Have you ever depended on someone, and they didn't come through for you? It stings, right? Or, have you ever been the cause of that kind of frustration? I have been in both places, and I didn't enjoy either!

Faithfulness and loyalty are not common in this world anymore. Even in the church, where we should be true to our word, there are a lot of unfaithful people. Even Solomon noticed that trend back in his day; Proverbs 20:6 says, “Most men will proclaim each his own goodness, but who can find a faithful man?”

In the New Testament, the Greek word for faithfulness is “pistis” - and it's used to describe both reliability and faith! Why is the word for faith used to describe our reliability (faithfulness)? Because, the Bible is describing a faithful person's trustworthiness from someone else's viewpoint (“I have faith in them”). In other words, our faithfulness should allow people to put their faith in what we said we would do!

Faithfulness is our human reflection of God's character. God is always faithful to His word – that's why we put our faith in Him. As His kids, we should be faithful to our word as well! From marriage vows to job contracts, a believer's word should be binding. Psalm 15:4 shows how a faithful person views his promises; He who swears to his own hurt and does not change. Even when it's costly, a faithful person does what he says. This is the kind of character should be found in the home, on the job, and in the church.

God's currency is faithfulness!

For example, if you want to advance in your workplace, make sure you're faithful to your boss! Luke 16:12 says, “And if you have not been faithful in what is another man’s, who will give you what is your own?” If you have to be told two or three times to do something, if you're badmouthing your boss behind his back, if you're always complaining about the job you have – why on earth would you be expecting a better position? If you're not faithful to what your boss is giving you to do, you will never be made a boss yourself. 

When you're faithful, other people may call you a “kiss-up”, but God will honor your faithfulness to your boss!

This type of faithfulness applies to ministry as well. When someone has a call to preach, the best thing they can do is submit to another man's ministry. Be faithful in what is another man's and God will give you your own! The worst thing a young minister in a church can do is badmouth the senior pastor and constantly maneuver for a better position! You're setting yourself up for failure, my friend, so stop it! Take a lesson from Paul, look at how he was placed in ministry: “And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry” (1 Timothy 1:12).

Luke 16:10 sets the rule - He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. Go ahead, try to claim that you'll do a better job when you have something more important to do. But I'm telling you – the way you serve in the little things is a picture of what you will do with greater things. In God's eyes, someone who faithfully cleans the church bathrooms for ten years is more qualified to step into ministry than a fresh Bible school graduate!

Faithfulness is essential for your Christian walk! God emphasizes it over and over again. Be faithful to the people in charge, and God will bless you!

A faithful man will abound with blessings Proverbs 28:20

A Glorious Church

2 Chronicles 1:3-4 Then Solomon, and all the assembly with him, went to the high place that was at Gibeon; for the tabernacle of meeting with God was there, which Moses the servant of the Lord had made in the wilderness. But David had brought up the ark of God from Kirjath Jearim to the place David had prepared for it, for he had pitched a tent for it at Jerusalem.

This passage gives us look at two different tents of worship:

The Tabernacle was the tent that God set up in the wilderness. Moses built it in the book of Exodus. Once he set it up, the Bible says that God's glory filled it. The priests weren't even able to go in at first, because of the glory of God. The Ark of the Covenant was there – a majestic symbol of God's presence. When Israel finally entered the Promise Land, the tabernacle came with them It was set up in Shiloh.

While the Tabernacle was at Shiloh, something devastating happened to it. 1 Samuel chapters 4-6 tells the story: A single, ungodly act by the Israelites caused the Ark of the Covenant to be captured. Although God brought the Ark back to Israel seven months later, it never entered the Tabernacle again. The Tabernacle still functioned though; and it moved from Shiloh to Nob to Gibeon – where it was in the time of Solomon. The priests still performed the religious rituals and ceremonies. From the outsiders point of view, it looked the same. But this tent of worship was missing the Ark, the very symbol of God's presence!

Enter David. God loved David and David loved God! When David became king in Jerusalem, his heart's desire was to have the symbol of God's presence (the Ark) close to him. At the time, the Ark was being cared for by the family of Abinadab in the town of Kirjath Jearim. David's desire was to move it to Jerusalem. After a three-month pit stop at Obed-Edom's house (while David learned a lesson on the proper way to usher in God's presence), the Ark was brought to Jerusalem. David set up a tent for it and appointed Zadok and Abiathar to be priests. A multitude of singers and musicians were there to constantly praise and worship God.

The difference between these two tents was striking. One was beautiful on the outside, the other was rather plain. One had all the religious traditions and customs, the other had heartfelt service and genuine worship. One had the presence of God inside it, the other was hiding its emptiness.

It's the same difference between churches today. One type is all about forms and customs, the other is devoted to God's presence. One can be found in 2 Timothy 3:5 “having a form of godliness but denying its power.” The other can be found in Ephesians 5:27 “a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.”

It's not about how relaxed or how formal your church is. God's presence was in the Tabernacle first, with all it's ceremonies and traditions. And then after staying in David's informal tent, the Ark went to the Temple, with its ceremonies and traditions. So being formal or casual has nothing to do with this. What it's all about is this; are you in a place where God's presence is?

But beyond the local church, are you personally housing God's presence? Or, like so many professing Christians, are you going through the rituals and traditions of “church” without ever seeking the presence of God? You could be in the most devout, powerful and sincere church on the planet and still be worshiping in an empty Tabernacle personally. If I were you, I would find out how to be a part of Jesus' glory-filled church and leave empty traditions behind!